Opinion category, Page 654
Scott Brady & Josh Shapiro: Task force targets covid-19 fraud
During these difficult times, the last thing the people of Pennsylvania need are individuals, retailers or wholesalers taking advantage of them. Gouging prices of household essentials or scamming people out of money for “at home” coronavirus kits that don’t exist isn’t just a disgusting practice — it is illegal. In...
Pat Buchanan: Are Americans all-in for a long coronavirus war?
“It’s a war,” says President Trump of his efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic, and likening his role to that of “wartime president.” Some measures already taken do call to mind actions in wartime. Commercial airline flights have been reduced or canceled. Schools have been closed. Universities have shut their...
Editorial: Listening and common sense with coronavirus
A worldwide medical crisis requires you to trust others and use common sense in a way that can sometimes be hard for us. Especially when the two ideas are at odds and it’s up to us all to make smart decisions. If we ignore the good advice — or exercise...
Letter to the editor: ‘Protection’ for frail elderly seems like punishment
The common narrative to endure social distancing measures is to protect the frail elderly. There are unintended consequences of the world we’ve imposed on them, based on my recent rounds in nursing facilities. Many elderly there are frail with debility and dementia. Usually an otherwise mundane existence is broken up...
Dr. David Dausey: America, brace for impact
David Dausey, Ph.D., an epidemiologist, is provost and vice president of academic affairs at Duquesne University and a professor in Duquesne’s John G. Rangos School of Health Science. He is also a distinguished service professor of health policy at Carnegie Mellon University. If Italy is any guide, in the upcoming...
Letter to the editor: Great time to clean up our littered roads
During this time of uncertainty, closures and orders to stay home, let’s do something productive. A lot of people are not at work and kids are off school, so get out with your kids and do a little spring cleaning along the roads. Litter is everywhere and looks disgusting. Dave...
Letter to the editor: For everyone’s sake, stay home!
I started this morning on my knees, praying that God would fill me with love, compassion and courage, and then I made my way to Westmoreland Hospital, where I am a physician. The mood at the hospital is tense. As of March 22, we still have limited capacity to perform...
Letter to the editor: Covid-19 & overpopulation
All the Earth’s environmental problems are a direct result of overpopulation. Any other consideration is a result of, and not in addition to, overpopulation. Overpopulation results in polluted water, air pollution, deforestation, rising crime rates, loss of wildlife leading to mass extinctions, widespread food shortages, vanishing fish in the oceans,...
Jonah Goldberg: Coronavirus more fodder for Chinese propaganda campaign
If there’s one thing worth knowing about China — in terms of geopolitics and American national security at least — it’s that its rulers are almost as afraid of the people as the people are afraid of them. Think about it. Why would a government place secret cameras everywhere? Censor...
Tom Purcell: Amid pandemic, cyber scams a growing threat
The dirty rotten crooks. While the rest of the world is doing its best to sacrifice to beat an unseen biological virus, cyberscammers are trying to attack us with a variety of digital viruses. Before the start of 2020, I warned about the rapid increase in cyberattacks. The more we...
Editorial: Officials’ lack of clarity in communicating is hurting the message amid coronavirus pandemic
Newspapers know the value of having people on the same page. That’s why when there isn’t enough room for a full story on the front, we tell you exactly what page you will find the rest, rather than just letting you hunt around randomly. We give you a key to...
Dr. Paul Carson: Why coronavirus pandemic is worse than the film ‘Contagion’
Paul Carson, M.D., is a Pittsburgh physician. I rewatched Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 film “Contagion” last night starring Gwyneth Paltrow. The film goes like this: When Paltrow returns to Minnesota from a Hong Kong business trip, she attributes the malaise she feels to jet lag. However, two days later, she is...
Jeremy Fryberger: Can knowledge & unity save us … again? Yes.
For humankind, courageous understanding is always the path forward. Every day, despite our world’s countless political and societal rifts, fresh new waves of people recognize that such disunity is not only unhelpful, but enormously destructive — and that humanity’s real, enduring progress stems almost entirely from inclusive good will; if...
Letter to the editor: We must battle ill health as an adversary, too
Walter Williams’ silly “We have no ‘right’ to health care” (March 13, TribLIVE) completely misses the point, besides being extraordinarily ill-timed. It’s not about “right,” it’s about “how do we want to spend our tax dollars — and would we prefer higher taxes to cover the cost of a universal...
Letter to the editor: Recognizing social workers
March is National Social Work Month. As a senior at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Social Work, I have the honor of working with extraordinary individuals who have accepted the call to become change-makers and advocates for the vulnerable and oppressed. While case management will always be a vital...
Letter to the editor: What’s basis for Pa. closure decisions?
“Grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies, beer distributors, bakeries and auto parts stores are among those businesses permitted to stay open.” “Car dealers and laundromats are among the businesses that must close.” The above sentences appeared in the article “Gov. Wolf orders ‘nonlife-sustaining’ businesses to close physical locations to halt coronavirus...
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of March 23
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of March 23....
S.E. Cupp: It’s time for Bernie Sanders to do what’s right for America
The headlines Wednesday were blunt and scathing. In The New York Times: “Biden Gets Out the Broom.” New York Magazine: “Why Is Bernie Sanders Still Running for President?” New York Post: “Biden Just Made Bernie Nothing More Than a Two-Time Loser.” And after the third Super Tuesday trouncing by Joe...
Editorial cartoons for the week of March 23
Editorial cartoons for the week of March 23....
Editorial: Let Pa. businesses fight coronavirus
There are almost 19,000 manufacturers in Pennsylvania. There are more than 570,400 employees who work to package potato chips and create Slinky toys and assemble Zippo lighters. Pennsylvanians work with powdered metals and electronics, chemicals and glass and steel. While Pennsylvania is being shuttered against the coronavirus, with Gov. Tom...
Letter to the editor: Property tax forgiveness better than cash payment
So now we have the federal government talking about a cash payment for people affected by the pandemic that is covid-19. I can see a lot of room for fraud in this approach, especially with all the red tape associated with anything the feds do. How about property tax forgiveness...
Letter to the editor: Hoarding is un-American
The coronavirus outbreak has panicked people into hoarding food, paper products and sanitizing compounds. Consumers across the country are conducting binge purchases of these products, and most supermarkets are reporting bare shelves and difficulty in restocking them. The binging activity is very un-American. There is no need for people to...
Lowman Henry: Remembering Don Bailey
With attention riveted on the unfolding efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, little note was made of the passing of former congressman and Pennsylvania Auditor General Don Bailey. Bailey had been out of the spotlight for many years, but he was a major political player for much of...
Dr. David Dausey: Covid-19 thoughts from an epidemiologist
I am a Yale-trained epidemiologist who spent years working around the world to help countries prepare for pandemics. Coworkers, friends and family have asked me for my thoughts and advice on what is happening in the world right now. Here is what I tell them. The threat from covid-19 is...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Solid St. Roch saw Pittsburghers through plague
Here’s a story for our time. In 1849, halfway up the hill that would later become Pittsburgh’s South Side Slopes, the parishioners of a German Catholic congregation turned to a 14th-century saint for help during the cholera plague. And they believed that he came through for them. As the story...
